Assad Assad says he and his household really feel betrayed.
However greater than that, the Palestinian American mentioned his first response to the United States government’s decision to proceed funding an Israeli military unit that certain his aged uncle and left him for lifeless might be summed up in a single phrase: “devastation”.
“We see this [as] hypocrisy — a US authorities that enables a international entity to have this chance to kill,” Assad, 36, advised Al Jazeera in a cellphone interview from his residence within the state of Wisconsin.
“They murdered my uncle in chilly blood. My uncle was not armed, was not…,” he continued, his voice trailing off. “He was simply going residence from an evening along with his buddies, his cousins, enjoying a card recreation.”
Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian American, died in January 2022 after he was detained by Israeli troopers at a checkpoint in his residence village of Jiljilya, close to Ramallah within the occupied West Financial institution.
He was pressured out of his automotive after which gagged, blindfolded and dragged on the bottom, in response to witness accounts and his household. He was unresponsive and the troopers left him out within the chilly at a development website with none help or medical care.
An post-mortem later discovered that he had died of a coronary heart assault “because of the exterior violence he was uncovered to”.
His demise prompted widespread condemnation, and the Assad household and Palestinian rights advocates within the US have called on President Joe Biden’s administration to conduct an impartial investigation and guarantee Israel is held accountable.
These calls grew louder after the Israeli military mentioned in 2023 that troopers concerned within the incident had been disciplined however none would face criminal charges.
In April of this yr, the US State Division mentioned it was wanting into whether to sanction the Israeli army battalion that had detained Omar Assad — the Netzah Yehuda Battalion — which is infamous for abuses within the West Financial institution.
However final week, the division mentioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken had decided that points with Netzah Yehuda had been “remediated” — and the unit may proceed receiving US authorities funding.
“My cousins and my uncle’s spouse don’t need to communicate to the media. They’re simply distraught, and so they don’t need to be round any of this as a result of it’s unbelievable,” mentioned Assad, Omar’s nephew. “It’s unjust. It’s simply hypocrisy.”
Sample of impunity
The Biden administration’s determination to proceed funding Netzah Yehuda comes amid a surge in Israeli military and settler violence in opposition to Palestinians within the occupied West Financial institution beneath the shadow of the nation’s struggle within the close by Gaza Strip.
Almost 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers within the West Financial institution between the beginning of the Gaza struggle on October 7 and August 12, in response to the latest figures from the United Nations humanitarian affairs workplace (OCHA).
However Palestinians within the occupied territories have confronted a long time of Israeli state violence.
In addition they have come up in opposition to what rights teams describe as a system of “endemic impunity” for troopers and settlers concerned in assaults in opposition to Palestinians.
Omar Assad was not the primary — or the one — American citizen killed by Israeli troopers who later evaded legal costs.
Simply months after the 78-year-old’s killing, in Could 2022, the Israeli military fatally shot famend Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh within the northern West Financial institution metropolis of Jenin.
In one other current case, in January of this yr, 17-year-old Tawfiq Ajaq, who was born and raised within the US, was killed within the West Financial institution village of al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya when an off-duty Israeli police officer and an Israeli settler opened hearth.
Each households are nonetheless in search of justice and accountability for the killings of their family members.
Ahmad Abuznaid, government director of the US Marketing campaign for Palestinian Rights, mentioned, “It’s irritating to see america not solely have a scarcity of look after Palestinians, a scarcity of look after worldwide regulation, however an unwillingness to implement US regulation.”
The US Leahy Law, for instance, prohibits help to international army models that commit abuses.
Abuznaid advised Al Jazeera there’s a double commonplace at play in American international coverage: The US authorities solely reserves full-throated outrage for anti-Israeli actions, however not anti-Palestinian ones.
“When the Israelis commit a whole genocide [in Gaza], once they kill Shireen Abu Akleh or Omar Assad, america is worried. When the Israelis can level to one thing that the Palestinians have accomplished, it’s instantly condemned,” he mentioned.
That distinction indicators that “the US authorities views Palestinian folks as disposable”, Abuznaid added.
“Their international coverage has been formed round an all-out assist for Israel, it doesn’t matter what. And this clearly places US international coverage at odds with Palestinians who bear the brunt of Zionism and are presently bearing the brunt of the US-Israel struggle machine’s genocide.”
‘Palestinian lives don’t matter’
That’s a sense shared by many who knew Omar Assad personally.
Othman Atta is the manager director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the US metropolis the place the 78-year-old had lived along with his household for a few years earlier than retiring in Jiljilya.
A lawyer by occupation, Atta mentioned he helped Omar along with his household companies. Atta additionally would see him at social occasions within the Milwaukee space, which is residence to many households whose roots return to Jiljilya.
Atta mentioned the US authorities’s determination to proceed funding Netzah Yehuda sends a transparent message “that within the eyes of the US authorities and US officers, that Palestinian lives don’t matter, even when they occur to be carrying US citizenship”.
That, coupled with Washington’s unwavering army and diplomatic backing of Israel after 10 months of a devastating struggle in Gaza, has shaken him.
“We really see a genocide going down. We see persons are being starved. They’re being denied water. They’re being bombed into oblivion [with] no regard for any human life,” Atta advised Al Jazeera.
“And but we cheer [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu in Congress. We ship billions of {dollars} in support,” he mentioned. “It’s very troublesome to fathom the depths of hypocrisy, of hatred in opposition to Palestinians and harmless folks in Gaza. It actually shakes you to the core.”
‘We have to discover justice’
The US State Division didn’t reply by publication time to Al Jazeera’s request for touch upon the choice to proceed funding Netzah Yehuda, or to criticism that the transfer fails to make sure accountability in Omar Assad’s demise.
In a press release shared by media shops final Friday, State Division spokesman Matthew Miller mentioned Washington had reviewed info offered by Israel and decided that violations by the unit had “been successfully remediated”.
Consequently, beneath US regulation, Netzah Yehuda may proceed receiving help, Miller mentioned.
However for Assad Assad, Omar’s nephew, the choice is just not the top of his household’s push for justice.
He described his uncle as a critical man who on the similar time would by no means cross up an opportunity to joke round and make everybody giggle. “He was critical, however he was all the time humorous with every thing he did,” Assad advised Al Jazeera.
“He was a very good man that raised a big household. He has grandchildren and sisters and brothers that cherished him dearly. His nephews all missed him,” he added.
“We have to discover justice for my uncle.”
